Suzuki Toichiro 0
by M.I.G.H.T.O Mk II
Summary: Meet the "Rising Star of the Paranormal World", Reigen Arataka! A spiritual genius; he has helped hundreds of people with their incorporeal issues. There is NO evil spirit he can not handle! ... Oh, and there's also his assistant, Toichiro Suzuki; but there's not much to say about him. He's just some tall, old man with poor social skills... Ok, there's a little more than that...
1. Self Proclaimed Psychic: Reigen Arataka!

**A/N: I'm not the creator or owner of Mob Psycho 100. That honor goes to ONE himself.**

**This is essentially an AU where Toichiro Suzuki takes Mob's place as main character. **

* * *

"This is just regular old salt, dumbass. It has to be purified in order to do anything to an evil spirit like me."

Reigen Arataka, paranormal investigator/exorcist and "the greatest psychic of the twenty-first century", was internally panicking. He had forgotten (yet again) to refill the emergency bag of salt he carried on his person with _purified_ salt. Normally this wouldn't be a problem and he would just make a note to visit a temple. But right now, he was with two clients and an _actual_ evil spirit. Not only that, he just frantically splashed salt everywhere… including all over the client's faces and clothes.

"_Crap… I really should have made a note to remind myself!"_ Reigen mentally cursed himself.

"YOU CHEATING FRAUD BASTARD!" One of the clients shouted frantically at him. "NOW WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

"With this, I, _The Ceiling Crasher_, will have officially killed five people!"

The evil spirit cackled and slowly rose above the three humans, mustering the energy to curse them and send them crashing through the ceiling. Reigen had to think of something fast; both his and the client's heads were on the line! Running away wouldn't work, salt was useless. This whole situation seemed completely…

"Wait! I've got it!" Reigen suddenly shouted.

"Got… what?" the other client asked.

"If salt won't work… I'll just have to use my ultimate weapon!"

The great "psychic" reached into his coat pocket and pulled out… a regular looking flip phone, raising it into the air in a dramatic and over-the-top fashion.

"Ultimate weapon?" the Ceiling Crasher asked. "What are you-"

Reigen held up a finger, cutting the spirit off, as he quickly dialed a number into his phone. Holding it to his ear, he waited for the dial tone to stop before speaking into it.

* * *

Several miles away, a tall man with dark red hair and spiky eyebrows was walking down the street. His face was expressionless, but strangely imposing; and there seemed to be bags under his eyes. The air around him seemed to paint the man as this dangerous and volatile individual.

Well… it would have, if it weren't for the fact that he was dressed in a brightly colored convenience store uniform. Complete with a large yellow smiley face on the right side of his chest.

The conflicting aura of the man's appearance seemed to deter other people from walking near him, as most people crossed the street when he got close. He didn't seem to mind, though. In fact… it didn't seem like he was even paying attention. If one got close, they could see that his eyes were out of focus and not looking at anything.

The man seemed to snap out of his vacant daze when he felt something buzzing in his right pocket. He took it out and opened it; his eyes widened when he saw who it was.

* * *

"Hey, it's me, Reigen. Sorry, but can you fly by real quick? There's an evil spirit that needs to be exorcised."

Both the clients and the Ceiling Crasher just stared at Reigen with confusion and anticipation.

"I'm not kidding, there's an evil spirit right in front of me, so you better hurry," said Reigen.

The two clients looked at each-other in disbelief. The spirit simply raised an eyebrow.

"Do I need to send you the address or… Oh, you'll figure it out? … You're on your way right now? … Good. We'll be waiting."

Everyone in the room stood there in awkward silence. They could almost hear the cockroaches scurry around. It was a long few minutes of just standing there, until the sound of approaching footsteps finally broke the silence.

"W-what's that sound?" One of the clients fearfully asked.

"Ah. He's here," Reigen said.

Everyone turned and looked at the door Reigen and the clients came through. The footsteps were slowly getting louder and louder, until the source of the sound came into view.

"Hey, Suzuki! Glad you could make it!"

The Ceiling Crasher scoffed at the sight. The "ultimate weapon" that was standing before him looked just like some average convenience store clerk, albeit an intimidating one with his cold face and wild eyebrows.

"What is this? A joke?" the spirit laughed. "What's some old man gonna do?"

The man said nothing, instead choosing to raise his hand and point at the evil spirit.

"Hmph! Get your-"

The Ceiling Crasher could not finish his insult, before violently convulsing and screaming as he was surrounded by a bright red aura. His form was warped and distorted. The man also glowed, but in a blood-red aura with a circuit-board like pattern. The evil spirit continued to writhe and convulse in agony, until the red aura overtook him and made him pop like a balloon.

The clients looked at the man in awe while Reigen nonchalantly turns to them and says:

"Aaaaand that takes care of the spirit. Now for you fee…"

* * *

_You have probably already guessed, but the convenience store clerk is the main character of this story. _

_His name is Toichiro Suzuki, and he is an __actual__ psychic. He is also the apprentice/assistant to the questionably authentic Reigen Arataka._

* * *

**A/N: And thus ends chapter one. This is the first story I've shared online, but I've had this story in my head for some time now. I hope you'll enjoy this!**


	2. Some Speculation

"Man, Suzuki, you are a lifesaver!"

Back in the office of _Spirits and Such Consultation_, Reigen was stashing away the last of the day's cash haul. He seemed to be rather chipper after the clients gladly paid the full price of a third course exorcism. One of them even apologized to him for being so rude to him, though Suzuki didn't understand why. He was the one who exorcised the spirit.

"To think an evil spirit actually showed up. Heh, it was a good thing you came."

As he flipped through the stack of bills, Reigen took one of _1000 yen_ bills and handed it to Suzuki.

"Here, your salary."

"Thank you, sir," said Suzuki flatly. He folded the bill in half and stuffed it into his pocket.

"You know, I really shouldn't be paying you since you're not even supposed to come in today," Reigen said in a matter-of-fact-way. "But I'm a nice guy, so here's your full pay."

Suzuki hummed in response as his boss and master tucked the small box full of cash into a safe on the side of his desk.

"So… why are you in your other uniform?" Reigen asked. "Isn't your other job not until seven?"

"Yes…" Suzuki looked down at his uniform, particularly at the smiley face on his right breast. "I didn't have anything else planned for today, so I decided to take a walk."

"In… your uniform?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Huh…" Preferring not to press any further, Reigen opened his desk drawer and pulled out his laptop. Not for anything in particular, but just to focus on something other than Suzuki… who was still just sitting there… staring at him.

Wait… he wasn't staring at him; he was spacing out.

"Uh… Suzuki?" Reigen snapped his fingers three times in front of Suzuki's face, waking him up.

"Ah! Sir, that reminds me," he suddenly said.

"_He doesn't even notice it?" _Reigen thought.

"I've been meaning to ask you something, sir, if that's alright with you."

"Uh, sure. Ask away," Reigen said before casually taking a sip of his tea. He was thinking it was just another question about how his job works-

"Why do you insist on calling me on my day off?"

But it wasn't.

Reigen nearly spat out his tea, but luckily managed to keep himself from spitting it out.

"Sorry," Suzuki said. "Is that too much to-"

"NO! No, it's fine! Er…"

He had to think of an excuse _fast_; before Suzuki could suspect a thing. The cogs in his head spun as he quickly pulled one out of his ass.

"Ehem! Well, the answer is simple, my dear student!" Reigen nearly shouted while waving around his arms for exaggeration. "You see, it's all a part of your training!"

Suzuki cocked his head to the side slightly, a good enough indicator that his attention was grabbed. _"Yes! I got him!"_ Reigen shouted in his mind. _"Now to blow his mind with some knowledge!"_

"You see, all your time with me has made you accustomed to exorcising spirits, correct? For all of your encounters so far you've had plenty of preparation and knowledge beforehand… BUT!"

Suzuki had begun to space out halfway through his "inspirational speech", so Reigen put extra emphasis on the _"but"_ to keep his attention.

"... Usually, you won't have that kind of preparation. When you get to _my _level, evil spirits will be chomping at the bits to try and kill you EVERY SINGLE DAY! With me calling you in when you least expect it, your skills will stay sharp for a potential surprise attack!"

Reigen's ad libbing seemed to work, as Suzuki appeared to be in deep thought; with him holding his chin and furrowing his brow. The con artist leaned back triumphantly while lifting his tea cup for a nice, relaxing…

"Isn't that what you said last week?" Suzuki asked.

… Spitting of his drink. Not on the floor though; he managed to spit it back into the cup. Quickly recomposing himself, Reigen cleared his throat a second time.

" … If you actually remembered, then why did you ask again?"

Suzuki was taken aback by this. He _had_ forgotten that he had already asked this question last week. Reigen, on the other hand, was secretly relieved.

"You see? THIS is why you're lucky to be my student!" He exclaimed, feigning confidence. "Unlike most masters, I'm willing to help you realize your mistakes so you can grow!"

Suzuki's face had gone back to it's usual deadpan, but Reigen could tell that he was definitely paying attention to him.

"Everyday, you're learning something new about yourself! Heh. I'm willing to bet that without me, your powers would have gone berserk by now!"

* * *

Suzuki had a lot to think about. It was evening now, and his other job was in an hour. As he walked to the train station, the words of his master echoed in his mind.

"_I'm willing to bet that without me, your powers would have gone berserk by now!"_

Suzuki stopped and looked at his hand. Not in a vague dread or fear of himself, but rather curiosity.

He was wondering what it would be like if his powers went "berserk".

_Suzuki's Remaining Restraint: 87%_

* * *

**A/N: M****y reasoning for why Reigen pays Suzuki more money is because he's an adult who actually ****needs**** the money, unlike Mob who still has a family to provide for him. **


	3. Glimpse in the Life

Outside of being a part-time exorcist, Suzuki also worked part-time at a convenience store. While it wasn't bad… Suzuki didn't exactly think of it as a high point in his life. Not that he had many "high points" to choose from, mind you. He worked from seven in the afternoon all the way till midnight, so there were never many customers. Overall, it was pretty boring.

At the very least he wasn't alone. There was one other person who shared his shift; a young man with brown hair named Hikaru. He was a part-timer just like him, though they didn't talk much, but Suzuki didn't mind.

Right now, Suzuki was standing behind the cash register while Hikaru was restocking some items on a shelf. No one had come in for two long hours, and during that time, neither of the part-timers had said a word to each other. With seemingly nothing to do for the remaining three hours of his shift, Suzuki decided to spend that time thinking. He was thinking about the past week and what had happened. He thought about the stray kitten that brushed up against his leg at the train station, the line of school kids he saw walking down the street, that homeless man pulling his cart of things, that one guy who almost bumped into him that one time, that commercial he saw on TV about… about…

Now that he thought about it, not much happened to Suzuki last week; or any week for that matter. It was so uneventful that he couldn't remember most of it; not even what he had for breakfast this morning. Was his life that boring? Or was it just that he had bad memory…

"Um, hello?"

Suzuki snapped out his head. There was a customer standing in front of him, holding a pack of cigarettes and a soda.

"S-sorry about that, sir!" Suzuki said, hastily reaching for the barcode scanner… only to knock it off the counter and onto the floor.

The customer had an unamused look on his face as he watched Suzuki "reel" the scanner by it's cord back onto the counter. This time, he carefully took the device off its stand and scanned the pack of cigarettes.

At least… he tried to. Nothing came out of the scanner when he pulled the trigger. Suzuki shook the device near his ear; hearing something small rattle inside.

Sweat began to form on his forehead as he automatically assumed the worst. Did he break it? Crap! If he did, it had to be replaced; he had no idea how much these things cost, and he had so little money to begin with! What's more, if his boss found out that it was his fault, it be replaced out of his pay! Or worse…

"Hey man, I think it's unplugged."

Suzuki looked down at the scanner's cord. He followed it to where it connected to the register. When he looked at the outlet on the wall behind him, he saw that one of the cords was unplugged. For some reason, the register wasn't even plugged into the wall.

All of a sudden, Suzuki began to feel _really_ stupid.

After finally charging the customer for his cigarettes and coke, Suzuki heard sniggering from the back of the store. He looked and saw Hikaru; his hand over his mouth, stifling his laughter.

_Suzuki's Remaining Restraint: 85%_

* * *

A few hours later and now he was back at the apartment building he was currently living in. It was the one thing he looked forward to. Not for the aspect of resting after a long day of work; his apartment was nowhere near comfortable enough. Instead, he was more interested in the little kitten with light brown fur and a white underside currently trotting towards him.

"Hey, Taiya" Suzuki said, kneeling down and petting the cat.

Taiya wasn't his cat; she was just a stray who came by every now and then to visit him. He wanted to keep her, but his landlord didn't allow pets. Her purring was adorable and relaxing at the end of the day.

Heading up to his apartment, he noticed some kind of smell. It was strong... and familiar. _Alarmingly_ familiar. When he got to the top of the stairs to his apartment, he saw it.

A pile of wet cat poop. Right in front of his door.

_Suzuki's Remaining Restraint: 82%_

* * *

As the sound of a digital alarm clock blared in his ears, Suzuki wiped the grime and sleepiness from his eyes. He sat up on his futon and looked around; taking in his… rather messy apartment. He really had to clean up all the loose trash and clothes everywhere. Maybe later.

After some time, Suzuki eventually noticed that his alarm clock was still on. He reached over to shut it off and… wait, his alarm clock broke a few weeks ago. It was just his phone's ring-tone.

He grabbed his phone and opened it, seeing that it was his master, Reigen. He pressed the answer button and held the phone up to his ear.

"Sir?" He asked, still slightly groggy.

"Suzuki! How goes it?" Reigen responded. "Hey, instead of coming to the office, head to the station today."

"Ok, but why?"

"A job just came in, and it's a big one."

"Alright. See you soon," Suzuki was about to hang up the phone.

"By the way, can you make sure your come by in thirty minutes? The bus'll be here soon," Reigen added at the last second.

A brief flash of frustration appeared on Suzuki's face, before it returned to it's usual, cold deadpan.

" … Yes, I can."

"Good! See you in a bit."

Suzuki hung up the phone and looked down at his clothes. He was still in his pajamas.

_Suzuki's Remaining Restraint: 81%_

* * *

**A/N: Next chapter is going to be a long one. Well, for me at least. **


	4. Big Jobs and Old Cults

"This job's from a local neighborhood councilman. It's about that abandoned building on Nishiki street."

Reigen and Suzuki were riding in the back of a city bus. This time, Suzuki was dressed in a light blue business suit with a white dress shirt and salmon colored tie. Reigen was holding a roadmap, pointing to a specific point on the map.

"That place has been abandoned for a few years now, but recently there have been reports of supernatural phenomena," Reigen explained.

As his master listed down the hauntings, Suzuki visualized them in his head.

"People have reported hearing screams coming from the building at night, seeing moving figures in the windows, and a general feeling of unease coming from the building. A few bloggers and paranormal investigators who went into the building either never came back out, or were scared into psychosis. And get a load of this."

Reigen put the road map aside and pulled out an old newspaper article from his coat pocket.

"A 'Mass Cult Suicide?'" Suzuki read the headliner out loud.

"Yep," Reigen said. "Apparently, that building used to be the headquarters of a religious group called 'LOL'. It was only active for a few months, but it managed to garner a pretty sizable following."

The bus stopped a few blocks away from their destination, so Reigen and Suzuki decided to continue on foot.

"One day, the whole group went completely silent," Reigen said as they walked. "It's members stopped coming in and out of the building, and after a few days, people started smelling something rancid from inside. When the police went in to investigate…"

The expression on Reigen's face suddenly became dark.

" … They found the partially rotted corpses of the entire cult," Reigen said in a dark voice. "Their deaths were ruled off as a mass suicide."

The exorcist duo continued walking down the street, until they eventually came upon a run-down apartment complex. Most of its windows were broken and much of the paint was peeling off.

"This is the place," Reigen remarked. "It must be swarming with the restless souls of the dead."

Reigen looked to his right and saw Suzuki staring at the clouds.

"Suzuki, stay on your toes. Anything could happen."

"Mhm…" Suzuki didn't look at him.

"Alright! Let's go!" Reigen proclaimed as he walked toward the front door. "I, Reigen Arataka, the Rising Star of the Paranormal World, will rid this building of the evil plaguing it! You got that, Suzuki? We're gonna exorcise every last evil spirit here!"

Reigen and Suzuki bravely marched through the front door, ready to eliminate the paranormal presence within the abandoned building… or rather, just Reigen. Suzuki was still staring up at the sky. Thankfully it didn't take long for Reigen to realize this, as after a few seconds, he came sprinting out of the building.

"HEY! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA, STUDENT!?" Reigen shouted hysterically. "YOU'RE COMING TOO!"

Reigen's student/assistant was too busy spacing out to listen to him. Suzuki wasn't even looking at anything in particular; just looking up.

"Suzuki, are you listening!?" Said Reigen as he angrily snapped his fingers in his student's face.

"Huh? Yes, sir?" Suzuki asked innocently.

"I'M GONNA GO MELT DOWN A BIG ONE!" Reigen cried out, emphasizing his point with exaggerated hand movements. "SO FOLLOW ME AND LEARN SOMETHING! GOT IT!?"

"Yes, sir," Suzuki replied calmly.

Reigen sighed with relief. Now he was surely ready for whatever might come his way-

"I must say, sir, it's truly impressive that you are so confident about this," Suzuki suddenly said.

" … What do you mean?" asked the great "psychic", slightly afraid.

"I mean that the spiritual presence here is remarkable," said Suzuki, looking at the building. "Haunted spots like these tend to be fake… but this place…"

Suzuki paused, making Reigen's blood run cold.

"W-what?" A drop of sweat ran down Reigen's face.

"**A normal person wouldn't last long here," **Suzuki said in a deep, menacing voice, causing Reigen to jump slightly.

"W-well, of course they wouldn't! That's why _we're_ going to clean this place out," Reigen quickly shook off the fear (or faked it, rather). Standing in front of the building, the two of them prepared themselves for the danger ahead.

Well, Reigen more so than Suzuki.

"Let's Go! I'll take the lead!" Reigen proclaimed. "But I expect you to support me in any way you can, Suzuki!"

* * *

The inside of the building was somehow worse than the outside. Trash and destroyed furniture was everywhere. There were even a few abandoned homeless hovels. But most of all, the whole place _reeked_.

Reigen and Suzuki carefully navigated past the piles of garbage and rubble. Reigen was holding his shirt over face in an effort to block out the foul odor. Suzuki didn't seem to mind it, though.

"Man, we really should have brought flashlights," Reigen remarked as he stepped over a fallen piece of the ceiling.

"Maybe," Suzuki replied, not concerned in the slightest.

"Hey, do you feel anything?" Reigen said, resisting the urge to gag.

"You don't feel anything, sir?"

"Uh… well, my nose is a little stuffy today, so that might be interfering with my ability to sense auras," Reigen faked a runny nose by sniffing, only to immediately regret it due to the rancid smell.

"That doesn't make any sense," Suzuki said, looking at his master with curiosity.

"It will once you get to my level."

Suzuki simply hummed at the answer he was given, before stopping in his tracks.

"Well, to answer your question," Suzuki began. "I'm feeling the presence of twenty spirits. Wait, thirty… forty-five… No… there are hundreds of spirits; all around us."

"Hundreds…?" Reigen muttered, slowly inching towards the exit.

"It appears that they are going to attack us now," the tall esper said nonchalantly.

"Well, alright," Reigen said with fake confidence. "You take care of the small fry, Suzuki. Let's do this!"

Suzuki's red aura surrounded him as the invisible spirits began exploding all around him. The lights from Suzuki and the exorcised spirits lit up the dark room in an array of red, yellow and orange, while a torrent of noise filled the ears of both exorcists. Reigen stood facing away from him; a calm and cool expression on his face. In reality, though, he was itching to get the hell out of dodge.

"Man, there sure are a lot of evil spirits in this building!" Reigen shouted over the noise. As he did so, he started walking towards the exit.

"Wow, it's a good thing we're both crazy powerful espers, or else we would've been in _really_ big trouble!" The "psychic" hastened his pace; the door they came through just in sight.

"I think that's the last of them! Another job well do-" Reigen was cut off when he bumped into something stiff and _cold_.

"_Crap! There's something right in front of me!"_ He internally panicked.

"WHAT ARE YOU!?" Reigen literally screamed."AN EVIL SPIRIT!?"

He briskly pulled out his phone and shined it's light forward. The thing in front of him was a tall, thin man dressed in traditional shinto robes. There was something clearly off about him with his pale grey skin, empty black eyes, and the hitaikakushi on his head.

"Oh, just a priest," muttered Reigen, completely disregarding it. "Hey, we got the situation under control here, so you can just go home."

"Sir?" Suzuki called out to his master. "Since your spiritual awareness seems to be impaired, I should warn you that the evil spirit's leader is in that general direction. Be careful."

The dawning realization hit Reigen like a sledgehammer as the Spiritual Leader smirked at him. "Hmph! So you were an evil spirit all along!" Reigen said, attempting to save face. "If you were planning on a sneak attack, you might as well give up! I can see right through your disguise!" His ass pull only earned Reigen a confused face from the spirit, only for it to start chuckling.

"Foolish Mortal…" The Spiritual Leader growled as a blue fire began to engulf his form. "It was here; in this building, that I died! I was also here to exorcise the spirits trapped in this mortal plain… when I suddenly slipped on a rotten banana peel and fell backwards down the stairs! I died soon after, but my spiritual power was so great that I came back as a vengeful ghost, and was named the leader of these lost souls!" The blue fire subsided, revealing the brand new form of the spirit; a bare, muscular upper body with two blue flames in his eyes. "This building belongs to me! AND I'LL DESTROY EVERY SINGLE INTRUDER!" An ōnusa appeared in front of the spirit. He grabbed it and whispered into its handle until it's cloth burst into flames.

"DESECRATED GRAVE POLTERGEIST!" The spectre shouted as he reared back and slammed the ōnusa down, creating a huge explosion. The spirit smirked; expecting to see the mangled corpse of the pathetic phony. Instead, his smirk immediately shifted to shock when the smoke cleared, and instead of a dead body, he saw…

"A force field!?" The spirit gawked at the red sphere of energy protecting the man. _"Impossible! I didn't sense any psychic power from him!"_

"That's right!" Reigen said as he reached into his coat. "I'm the genius psychic, Reigen Arataka! And it's too late for regrets!"

"CRAP!" The Spirit yelled in fear. "HE MADE ME MISTAKE HIM FOR SOME AVERAGE WIMP!"

A fistful of salt was splashed in the spirit's face, blinding it.

"BANISHING SALT ROUNDHOUSE KICK!" Reigen shouted as he performed one of his special moves; where he first splashes salt in the eyes of an evil spirit before roundhouse kicking them in the face. Reigen's attack sent his enemy reeling back, screaming in pain… but only for about two seconds.

"Wait a second…" The spirit muttered as he rubbed the spot where Reigen had kicked him. "That didn't hurt at all."

"_Oh God,"_ Reigen thought, a bead of sweat running down his face.

"So… you _are_ a fake!" The spirit growled as he prepared to lunge at Reigen, but was immediately stopped when he was encompassed in a red aura. The spirit screamed in pain as his form began to distort and shrink. Reigen smirked victoriously as the spirit pleaded for mercy.

"Go back to the ozone layer," He said, calm and cold.

"Wait… We… were being… forced… to do this!" The red aura suddenly dissipated, and the spirit was now in a much smaller form. Reigen gawked at the spirit's new form as Suzuki walked over to them, hands slightly smoking.

"Hey, what are you waiting for, Suzuki?" Reigen asked his student as he shook the smoke from his hands. "Hurry up and melt him."

"Hold on, sir," said Suzuki. "I'd like to hear what he has to say." Not wanting to argue with his only student and employee, and out of acknowledgement that he would know more about the situation than him, Reigen conceded. "Fine. But he better be quick."

The spirit stammered and fiddled with his hitaikakushi before speaking.

"W-well," The spirit began. "The thing is, there's another spirit here; keeping us trapped here and forcing us to do his bidding!"

"Wait, didn't you say that you were the leader?" Reigen asked, skeptical.

"No! … Well, yes, but that's just because he told me to do it! He's just using me as a proxy to command the rest of us! He's crazy powerful, but he only stays in the basement."

Reigen stood there with an unamused look. Suzuki's face was also blank, but still seemed interested.

"So, hold on. How do we know that you aren't still lying to us?"

"I'M NOT LYING TO YOU, OK?!" The spirit screamed. "It's just that… If we were to just be dealt with without our stories being told, I doubt any of us would be able to move on!"

The two psychics just stared at the spirit's little sob story.

"That's all I had to say!" The little ghost fell back in utter defeat. "Now you can go ahead and exorcise me! I'm done!" Overall, the spirit's behaviour seemed to be completely genuine. Well, to Suzuki at least. Reigen was completely unconvinced.

"So your big plan is to make us pity you?" Reigen said in plain disbelief. "Nothing but the typical lies of a coward."

The "masterful psychic" did his signature hand movements before giving Suzuki a thumbs down, delivering the final verdict: "Melt him."

The spirit whimpered and shut his eyes in preparation as Suzuki walked towards him. But instead of exorcising him, Suzuki just walked past him.

"You said this spirit is in the basement, yes?" Suzuki asked, pointing at the floor.

"Er… yes. But what are you…?" The spirit was cut off when a ball of light shot out from Suzuki's finger, blowing a large hole in the floor.

"I'm still sensing an evil presence within this building," said the real psychic as he started floating. "But I couldn't pin down the exact location." Reigen was both surprised and relieved that Suzuki still didn't suspect anything.

"W-well, yes! Glad you figured it out-"

"STOP HIM!" The spirit suddenly shouted. "You can't let him go down there!"

"Huh?" Reigen looked down at the spirit in surprise.

"That guy might be powerful, but that spirit is something else!" Flashbacks of the few times the spirit saw his boss outside of the basement filled his head. "He's a powerful evil spirit who gained his strength by absorbing the spiritual power of countless other spirits and people! In fact, every single spirit here are his past victims!"

A sudden feeling of fear gripped Reigen as he recalled the spirit's exposition dump from earlier.

"... Except for me. I just happened to slip on a banana peel."

Only for it to immediately be replaced by surprise. Maybe even a little disappointment. A thundering roar and a violent gust of wind erupting from the hole knocked Reigen over, interrupting his thoughts. He looked over to it and caught a glimpse of Suzuki swiftly descending into the hole.

"DO YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN!?" the little spirit screamed. "If you don't want that guy to die then call him back while you still have a chance!"

Reigen processed what he had heard. Was Suzuki really in trouble? He was the strongest psychic he knew… but only because he was the only psychic he knew. He could be in real danger, and that wouldn't be good for business!

"Hey, Suzuki!" Reigen called out, running towards the hole. "Come back here! Can you hear me?! Come Back!"

Suzuki _could_ hear him, but he paid him no mind. He had a spirit to get rid of. It took Suzuki a few minutes to get to the basement, but when he got there, he was surprised by the lack of odor. But instead there was a thick aura of spite, anger, and _hunger._ The basement was bigger than he expected, with huge pillars holding up the ceiling and tattered curtains and tapestries on the walls. The thing he _was _expecting were the hundreds of old bones on the floor… and the eerie green light suddenly appearing behind him. He turned around to look at the evil spirit looking down at him with hungry eyes.

"So much power…" it drawled, its mouth watering. "I can't wait to eat it all up!"

The monstrous spirit opened its mouth incredibly wide, powering up an immense attack of green light.

* * *

Maybe Suzuki _was _in trouble? He usually only takes a few minutes at most to exorcise a spirit; and it's already been almost half an hour! What would he do without…

… Oh, there he is.

"Ah! You're safe!" Reigen said with relief. "What took you, Suzuki?"

"Sorry," He said, floating out of the hole. "The spirit wanted to absorb my power, and it even tried to kill me with a series of energy attacks. I was busy absorbing them."

"Absorbing them? Does that mean… you absorbed his unstoppable _Wraither Beam!?_" The little spirit sputtered. "Who the hell are you!?"

"Oh, I'm just an assistant-"

"You idiot!" Reigen shouted, following up with his signature hand movements. "You're not _just_ an assistant! You're Toichiro Suzuki, the student of… REIGEN ARATAKA, THE NEW STAR OF THE PARANORMAL WORLD!"

"Ah, yes," Suzuki just said.

"Well… in any case, thank you, Mr. Suzuki!" The little spirit floated up to him. "Now all of the spirits here are free to move on to the afterlife."

The spirit was just about to disappear willingly, when Suzuki stopped him. "Wait, I found this while I was down there," he said while digging around in his pocket. "Does this happen to be yours?"

He pulled out a photo of his pocket. It seemed to be a color-faded picture of a man in traditional shinto robes, standing in front of a shrine. The spirit began to tear up, but managed to hold them back enough to say:

"I… Thank you… so much!"

* * *

**A/N: This chapter took **_**WAY**_** too long to write. I honestly should have just split it up. My plan was to have each episode be split up into several chapters. Anyway, till' next time... **


	5. Out of Place Concerns

_In life, there comes a time where one may undergo the disheartening realization that they have wasted their life and are unable to change it. This period of time is often called __**middle age. **__When one has this realization, they may react in a number of different ways. _

_Some give up. _

_Some keep going. _

_Some grow cynical. _

_Some self medicate. _

_Some distract themselves. _

_While some decide to take initiative and feverishly search for a chance to turn their life around in any way possible. _

_And what was our main character, Suzuki, doing?_

* * *

"SORCERY CRUSH!" Came from Reigen a mighty "battle" cry as he executed one of his special moves: with well placed strikes and masterful massage techniques, he relieves the stress from a client as well as ridding them from stiff shoulders and fatigue!

The client in question moaned and groaned with pleasure, while Suzuki was sitting at his desk, staring off into the corner of the room.

* * *

_Working as a part-time assistant to a "psychic" for just over a thousand yen an hour._

* * *

"And we are done," said Reigen as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I believe the curse has been lifted."

The now-relieved customer shook off his daze at about the same time as Suzuki stopped staring into space. He thanked his masseur and made his way to Suzuki's desk.

"Hm… Your fee for a forty-minute massage is 800 yen," the assistant said just a tad absentmindedly.

"_Dammit, Suzuki!"_ Reigen mentally shouted at his cohort. _"You're supposed to call it a 'curse dispelling fee!'"_

Oddly enough, the client paid it no mind and handed over his due payment. As he left, an alarm from Reigen's desk signalled the most gratifying time of the work day.

"That's the bell!" Reigen said excitedly "Lunch break!"

He walked over to the tea kettle next to his desk to pour himself a cup. After which, he took out the little container of takoyaki he was saving for lunch. Suzuki's lunch was just the usual bento box and a bottle of water he got from his convenience store job.

"It seems you've gotten more skilled with your massages, sir," Suzuki remarked.

"Well, I've been looking up on new techniques," explained Reigen as he blew on his takoyaki ball. "But of course they're only effective due to my spiritual powers."

He set the ball of fried squid into his mouth, only to immediately spit it back out. It seemed that he had not cooled it down enough. As Reigen lamented the fact that he had wasted a perfectly good takoyaki, Suzuki caught it with his telekinesis just before it hit the ground.

"By the way, sir," Suzuki began to speak. "I've been thinking of something."

"Heh, this is new," Reigen noted. "You usually don't start conversations."

"Well," the assistant continued; spinning the takoyaki ball faster and faster. "It's just that lately I've been hearing people talk about their afterwork plans. They often talk about going out with friends or quitting to finish their education."

The takoyaki was now spinning so fast that the sauce on top of it should have fallen off by now, but Suzuki's telekinesis kept it in one piece. "I only just noticed that I don't have much in the way of future plans. The most I've thought about it was that I would get a new suit or something like that. That got me thinking…"

He placed the takoyaki ball gently back onto the styrofoam container it came from before speaking again. " … Is there something else I should be doing with my time?"

Reigen eyed his takoyaki as he considered the question from his assistant and student. _"Is that really what it? I mean, at least he hasn't figured out my ruse yet…" _

"That's a tricky question," Reigen said in a confident voice. "How old are you again?"

"46"

"_Oh yeah, he's older than me. Strange…"_ Reigen thought. "Well, Suzuki, the thing is that people your age should have already thought about their future long before they got to this point. I'd say… while they were in middle school at least."

Upon hearing that last statement, Suzuki was in deep thought. Reigen kept going, though. "I mean, it's not like people can _only_ think about their future when they're younger. But when you're already at this age, you don't have much time to think about it and actually do what you want to do."

"I see…" Suzuki said pensively. "Then… can you help me, sir? Do you know what I should do?"

"The way I see it, Suzuki," Reigen said as he stood up. "The best thing you can do right now is to have a safety net ready for when you fall. And lucky for you, your safety net is right here!" Reigen pointed at his business poster on the wall behind him. It was a poster of him pointing at himself with a bright orange background.

* * *

**A/N: It has been a long wait since the last chapter. Sorry. Though, I gotta say that I am surprised that this story actually got some people following it. It's pretty mind blowing!**


	6. Accidental Doubts

The sound of someone rummaging through a backpack was all that could be heard in a dark bedroom. The person holding the backpack took a piece of paper out of one of the pockets. On it was a phone number neatly scribbled on it.

"Is it still there?" the person asked.

Another figure in the dark was standing next to the person. They were shorter than them, and they were looking up into the corner of the room.

"Y-yeah…" they said, visibly afraid. "It's still there, and it's licking its lips…"

* * *

Suzuki had a lot on his mind after he left work. What _did_ he want to do with his life? Was there even something he was interested in? Did he have something to be passionate about? He didn't even have any hobbies or anything like that; or he couldn't remember them…

At least he had a "safety net" as his boss called it. Right now he was at his other job; the convenience store, manning the counter with Hikaru. As usual, they hadn't talked for hours, and the whole time it didn't feel awkward. It seemed like it was going to be just like any other night… Until it wasn't.

"Hey, Hikaru," Suzuki began.

"Yeah?" the young adult said.

"Do you have any future plans?" Suzuki asked.

"What?" Hikaru said, surprised. "Uh…"

"Sorry, that was a bit sudden," Suzuki immediately apologized.

"Well, yeah…"

Hikaru ended up not answering his question and the two of them were silent once again. Seven minutes and a customer later, Hikaru spoke up once again. "Why the sudden talk?" He asked.

"It's just that I've been thinking about things lately," Suzuki answered. "Things about the future."

"The future?" Hikaru was intrigued.

"I mean about my future. About what I want to do with my life and my future." The red haired man said, looking up at a ceiling light.

"Your future, huh?" Hikaru said as he took his phone out of his pocket and began browsing the internet. Though, it only took him a few seconds before realizing something.

"Wait," the young man stopped and looked up at Suzuki. "Aren't you, like, forty-something?"

"46," Suzuki clarified.

"So… isn't it a bit late for you to think about that kind of thing?"

Suzuki looked at Hikaru with a confused expression, though it was barely distinguishable from his normal expression.

"Well, yes…" he hesitated, "But I am free to think about it whenever I wish."

"But you wouldn't have much time to do anything that you've planned?"

" … No…"

_Suzuki's Remaining Restraint: 79%_

"Then what's the point of it?" Hikaru pressed.

" … Er…"

Suzuki wanted to answer; to say something to prove him wrong, but he couldn't think of anything. Hikaru must have noticed the discomfort he caused, as he quickly tried to diffuse it. "I mean, it's not like I've actually thought about it that much either. It's just that it sounds so surreal when it's coming out of someone as old as you."

Suzuki did not respond to Hikaru's remark. All he did was stand there, staring at the far wall, his expression unreadable. The familiar silence that accompanied their shift swiftly set in. Though this time, there was something clearly different about it.

* * *

**A/N: Well this was a short one. Not really happy with it, either. Next one (when it comes) will be longer.**


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